
I’m Denise Geiskkovitch.
I am an assistant professor in the Department of Computing and Software, and the Barber Gennum Chair in Information Technology at McMaster University.
My research centres focuses on designing robot behaviours for meaninful interaction with adults and children. I am also interested in how unexpected robot behaviours (such as errors) impact human-robot interaction.
I am currently accepting PhD students for Fall 2024.
Things I’ve made trying to put my dent in the universe.
I’ve worked on tons of little projects over the years but these are the ones that I’m most proud of. Many of them are open-source, so if you see something that piques your interest, check out the code and contribute if you have ideas for how it can be improved.

Obedience to Robots
Do people obey robots in positions of authority?

Children's Trust Towards Robots
Experiments exploring children's trust towards robot with different attributes.

Human-Robot Proxemics
Does seating arrangement affect perceptions of a robot?

Icons for children
User-centered design of app icons for children.